Motor vehicle dealers
Financial statements required by law to be filed with Department of Transportation in connection with applications for motor vehicle dealers and motor vehicle salvage dealers' licenses are public records and are subject to inspection and copying under sec. 19.21(2), Stats., subject to limitations contained in court cases cited. 66-302
Paternity case file
Information contained in a county paternity case file may be released for purposes of fraud investigation of the public assistance programs specified in section 49.53, Stats. 80-226
Public records
Information on sex, ethnic background and handicapped status obtained through state employment applications for affirmative action purposes is exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Law, but birth date information is not. 73-26
Settlement agreements
Relationship between the Public Records Law and pledges of confidentiality in settlement agreements discussed. 74-14
Snowmobiles
Snowmobile accident reports filed with the Department of Natural Resources pursuant to section 350.15(3), Stats., are not confidential documents. 76-56
Veterans
Under current law the authority of the Department of Veterans Affairs to release veterans loan status information to lenders and credit reporting agencies is very limited. 77-49
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
See also COMPATIBILITY; CONTRACTS; PUBLIC OFFICIALS
Banking Review Board
Banking Review Board members are not authorized to act in cases involving banks in which they or their spouses own stock. 75-197
Bids and bidders
A county board supervisor who is an employe of a law firm which has been hired by a third party to represent it in negotiations with the county board does not violate either section 946.13(1)(a) or (b), Stats., if a supervisor has absolutely nothing to do with the contract either as an attorney or as a supervisor. 75-172
Drug treatment facility
Prior to releasing patient records in response to a warrant or subpoena, a federally funded or federally assisted drug treatment facility must first ascertain that the issuing court has made a finding of "good cause" within the meaning of 21 U.S.C. § 1175(b)(2)(C) in order to avoid the possibility of a fine under 21 U.S.C. § 1175(f). If there is no evidence that a finding of good cause has been made, no state criminal law is violated by refusing to release drug treatment records. 72-12
Human services records
Before client information is released to another division within a county community human services department, a written and informed consent is necessary. The community human services board and the director may view client information without a written and informed consent for any purpose related to their powers and duties. 69-273
Investment Board, Wisconsin
The State of Wisconsin Investment Board lacks the statutory authority to place one of its board members or an employe on the board of directors of a private corporation. 75-213
Partial disclosure
A state public official who requests and receives confidential advice from State Ethics Board under sec. 19.46(2), Stats., does not waive confidentiality by partial disclosure of advice. (Unpub.). 17-1975
Private interest in public contracts
Section 946.13, Stats., which prohibits private interests in public contracts, applies to county board or department purchases aggregating more than $5,000 from a county supervisor-owned business. 76-178
Section 946.13, Stats., prohibiting private interest in public contracts may impose criminal liability upon the University of Wisconsin employes who in their private capacities deal contractually with the State of Wisconsin to provide services and equipment. (Unpub.). 64-1977
Where the village board administers a community development block grant program, a member of the village board would violate section 946.13(1)(a), Stats., if he or she obtained a loan in excess of $5,000 under the program. Acting in his private capacity as a contractor, the board member would violate section 946.13(1) if he contracted to perform the construction work for a third person who obtained a loan under the program. 76-278
Public officials
The office of superintendent or administrator of a county health care center providing mental health related services, appointed under section 46.19(1), Stats., and the office of member of the county community programs board, appointed under section 51.42(4), are incompatible. 77-150
School
Juvenile officers are not required to provide information in their possession concerning a juvenile to officials of the school attended by the juvenile when requested to do so. The school does not violate the confidential exchange provisions of sec. 48.396(1), Stats., by using the information obtained from a police officer to take disciplinary action against a student so long as the school does not reveal the reason for the disciplinary action to parties not authorized to receive such information. To the extent that 56 OAG 211 (1967) is in conflict with this opinion, it is modified. 69-179
School Board member
The enactment of the marital property law does not change the applicability of section 946.13, Stats., to the member of a governmental body when that body employs the member's spouse. As was the case before the marital property law, the member of the governmental body avoids violation of section 946.13 if in his private capacity he does not negotiate, bid on or enter into the employment contract and in his public capacity he does not participate in the making of the contract and does not exercise discretion in the performance of the contract. 76-15
Teachers
The enactment of the marital property law does not change the applicability of section 946.13, Stats., to the member of a governmental body when that body employs the member's spouse. As was the case before the marital property law, the member of the governmental body avoids violation of section 946.13 if in his private capacity he does not negotiate, bid on or enter into the employment contract and in his public capacity he does not participate in the making of the contract and does not exercise discretion in the performance of the contract. 76-15
University employe
Where University has obtained ethnic or racial information about its employes under a necessary pledge of confidentiality, it need not divulge such information to a Senate committee where the committee has refused to issue a subpoena requested by the chairman and the needs of the committee can apparently be satisfied without such disclosure. (Unpub.). 79-1977
CONSERVATION
See also FISH AND GAME
Fees
Assembly Bill 894 as drafted is constitutional and allows the State to contribute $1 of the $3 fee collected from a state waterfowl hunting stamp to private nonprofit organizations for development of waterfowl propagation areas in Canada. 67-56
Ordinances, applicability of
A county ordinance passed under section 92.11, Stats., may be applicable to incorporated as well as unincorporated areas of the county, whereas a county ordinance passed under section 92.16 is applicable only in the unincorporated areas of the county. 77-87
Taxation
Section 70.11(24), Stats., is unconstitutional as violative of the Uniformity Clause in Wis. Const. art. VIII, sec. 1. 66-326
Wardens, fresh pursuit onto reservation
State and county conservation wardens and Sheriff's officers have authority under state law to arrest a Menominee Indian suspect on the reservation following fresh pursuit for an off-reservation violation of state law, if the arrest is one the officer is otherwise authorized to make. Although the State is generally obliged to comply with Menominee tribal extradition procedures, the State's personal jurisdiction over an Indian arrested under the circumstances described is probably not pre-empted by federal law. 74-245
Wardens, powers of arrest
A conservation warden, acting pursuant to the arrest power conferred upon him by sec. 29.05(1), Stats., may arrest with or without a warrant, any person detected in the actual violation, or any person whom such officer has reasonable cause to believe guilty of a violation of ch. 350, except where applicable to highways. A conservation warden has the power under sec. 29.05(1), Stats., to stop any snowmobile and to make necessary inquiries, if he has reasonable cause to believe there is a violation of ch. 350, and to conduct a limited weapons search where he reasonably suspects that he or another is in danger of physical injury. 64-166
The power of arrest of DNR wardens is limited by statute; they do not have general law enforcement authority except on state-owned lands, and property under DNR's supervision, management and control including the power to arrest violators of state law on all bodies of water which lie exclusively within such area, as determined by facility boundaries. 68-326
CONSTABLES
See POLICE
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Amendment to the constitution voided by court order
The Legislature has the duty to resubmit a proposed constitutional amendment to the people when the previous election at which the amendment was submitted has been voided by court order, notwithstanding the fact that an appeal has been taken from the order voiding the election. 65-42
Article VIII, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution discussed. 15-94.
A Wisconsin law patterned on Illinois' law which provides that improvements to real property would be assessed on the date of the completion of the improvements would be unconstitutional under article VIII, section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution. 81-94
